Bielema hopes visit keeps Tavarres a Hog

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema announced the addition of two members to the Arkansas football program on Monday.

On Wednesday, linebacker commitment Myke Tavarres will sign a national letter of intent with one of three schools, Arkansas, Arizona or Boise State.

Tavarres, 6-2 1/2, 215, 4.42 seconds in the 40 yard dash, of College of the Siskiyous in California committed to Arkansas during the summer but decided to take visits to Arizona and Boise State when it became evident the Hogs would be making a coaching change.

Razorback Coach Bret Bielema tried to do his best to convince Tavarres to stay with the Hogs when he visited him at his school on Thursday.

"It definitely helped." Tavarres said. "After talking to coach and actually finally meeting him for the first time was a definitely a positive thing.

"What were his plans for Arkansas?," Tavarres said. "How he treated his kids and how practice goes and what's his plans for the kids after football is done and the academic process and things like that."

After the visit, Bielema traveled to Oregon and a had a good visit with Tavarres' family. Bielema had his share of questions for Tavarres.

"He wanted to know what kind of person I was and my goals and the basic stuff really." he said.

Bielema, who coached linebackers at Iowa, Kansas State and Wisconsin before being named the Badgers head coach, talked about the position with Tavarres.

"He said I could play both sides, weak side or strong side," Tavrres said. "He said I could be a very good fit for the program which we already knew before but to have him reiterate and understand from a different coaching perspective."

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Richard Davenport

Richard Davenport covers recruiting for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He is the host of Recruiting Thursday, a weekly radio show that airs from 7 to 8 p.m. on 92.1 FM in Fayetteville; 93.7 FM in Little Rock; 95.3 FM in Fort Smith; 96.3 FM in Hot Springs; 104.3 FM in Harrison/Mountain Home; and 106.9 FM in Arkadelphia.